2001–2008: Career beginnings Hwang Jung-eum debuted with
K-pop girl group Sugar in 2001 as a lead vocalist, but left the group in 2004 to pursue a solo career. Hwang appeared as a recurring guest on the
variety show Love Letter from 2004 to 2006, in which her onscreen pairing with singer
Kim Jong-min became popular. She officially made her acting debut in the
television drama The Person I Love in 2007.
2009–2014: Rising popularity as a television actress In 2009, she and real-life boyfriend
Kim Yong-jun (of
boy band SG Wannabe) joined the
second season of reality dating show
We Got Married as the first real-life couple to be featured on the show. Later that year, Hwang rose to mainstream stardom when she appeared in the daily
sitcom High Kick Through the Roof. Her portrayal of a somewhat clumsy, but energetic college student, who is confident despite lacking money and opportunities resonated with many young adult viewers due to its accurate depiction of college students' sentiments. Regarding this breakout in her acting career, Hwang said: {{Blockquote After her role on
High Kick, Hwang signed numerous advertising contracts. In several interviews, she recounts how she only had in her bank account when she started the show, but walked away with when it ended. She was ranked 18th on ''
Forbes Korea's
Top 40 Celebrities in 2011, and was among the Top 7 Female Commercial Stars in Korea, as compiled by Ilgan Sports''. In February, 2010, Hwang hosted
MBC's
Star Dance Battle alongside
Kim Shin-young,
Oh Sang-jin, and
Shin Bong-sun. Later that year in December, she was one of the co-hosts of the annual music program
SBS Gayo Daejeon with
Super Junior's
Kim Hee-chul,
CNBLUE's
Jung Yong-hwa, and
2AM's
Jo Kwon. Hwang then began to commit to acting in television series. melodrama romance
Listen to My Heart,
medical drama Golden Time, and romantic comedy
Full House Take 2.
Listen to My Heart marked Hwang's first leading role. In 2013, Hwang was cast in crime comedy
Incarnation of Money. In the same year, she starred in the hit melodrama crime series
Secret Love, which achieved high TV viewership ratings. The drama resulted in Hwang winning multiple awards at the
2013 KBS Drama Awards. The following year she led the show
Endless Love, a
period drama set in the 1980s–1990s.
2015–present: Continued success In 2015, Hwang reunited with some of her former costars, namely
Ji Sung from
Secret Love, for the
romantic comedy series
Kill Me, Heal Me; then with
Park Seo-joon from
Kill Me, Heal Me and
Go Joon-hee from
Listen to My Heart for another romantic comedy,
She Was Pretty. Both dramas were commercial successes and solidified her popularity outside South Korea, in countries like
China.
Ize magazine named her as one of the 10 Persons of the Year and Hwang was selected as
Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year in 2015. The two MBC series won Hwang multiple awards at the
2015 MBC Drama Awards. Hwang was cast in her first big screen leading role in the 2015 romantic comedy film
My Sister, the Pig Lady, which was screened at the 39th
Montreal World Film Festival as part of their
World Greats selection. The film also won Grand Prize at the 2016 Osaka Asian Film Festival. Less than a month after her marriage, Hwang was cast in the 2016 romantic comedy series,
Lucky Romance. She then reunited with
Namkoong Min in the 2018 romantic comedy
The Undateables, with whom she had starred alongside seven years ago in
Listen to My Heart. In 2020, Hwang was cast in two drama series – fantasy mystery
Mystic Pop-up Bar and romantic comedy
Men Are Men. In 2022, Hwang accepted an offer to star in well-known
screenwriter Kim Soon-ok's upcoming 2023
SBS crime mystery drama
The Escape of the Seven. In July 2023, Hwang signed with a new agency, Y.ONE Entertainment. In 2025, Hwang admitted to embezzling more than 4.34 billion won (US$2.86 million) from a company that she owned to invest in cryptocurrency. She was subsequently sentenced to a two year prison term suspended for four years by the Jeju District Court. == Personal life ==